Charleston, S.C. – Chris Swauger went 5-for-5 with two singles, two doubles and a home run as The Citadel recorded a 5-2 victory over rival Furman to notch their first conference series victory of the season in front of 881 at Riley Park Sunday afternoon.
Swauger’s perfect day at the plate helped the Bulldogs to victory as the senior from Tampa, Fla. scored three of The Citadel’s five runs on the day. Swauger’s second double of the day was his 60th career double, tying him for second all-time in school history in career doubles with Bo Betchman (1994-97).
Swauger is now listed in the school’s Top-10 charts in at bats (9th, 798), runs (7th, 177), hits (5th, 268), total bases (2nd, 456), doubles (T-2nd, 60), triples (1st, 16), home runs (T-3rd, 32) and RBI (9th, 155).
The Citadel (14-7, 3-3 Southern) scored five runs on 11 hits and committed one error while Furman (11-8, 1-2 SoCon) scored two runs on four hits and committed three errors.
Asher Wojciechowski (3-0) went 7.0 innings, allowing only one run on two hits and striking out five. That strikeout tally gives Wojciechowski a Southern Conference-leading 41 strikeouts this season.
The final two innings were evenly split between Raymond Copenhaver and Matt Reifsnider. Copenhaver made his league-leading 16th appearance of the season, allowing one unearned run on one hit in 1.0 innings pitched. Reifsnider earned his SoCon-leading fifth save after pitching one inning and allowing only one hit.
Furman starter Will Feemster (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
Furman took the lead in the top of the first as Matt Hemingway laced a bases-loaded RBI single into right, scoring Marcus Rose. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Swauger tied the game after scoring on a Sonny Meade sacrifice fly with no outs.
Neither team scored until the fourth when Matt Arnold scooted home as Kyle Jordan hit into a double play to short with no outs.
The Citadel added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as Swauger led off with a double to right field. Bryan Altman sent him to third with a single to center. Meade sent Swauger across the plate for the second time in the game with a fielder’s choice to short as Furman forced Altman out at second.
After Chris McGuiness flied out to right, Meade went to second on a wild pitch by Feemster. Richard Jones notched an RBI in his third straight game with a single to right field, sending Meade across the plate. Sid Fallaw flied out to right after an Arnold walk to end the inning as the Bulldogs took the 4-1 lead.
Furman tacked on one run in the eighth as Bobby Hubbard scored on a wild pitch by Copenhaver.
Swauger added one more run with a solo shot beyond the right field fence in the bottom of the inning, giving the Bulldogs the final 5-2 advantage.
The Citadel returns to action on Tuesday, March 25 when the Bulldogs host No. 18 Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. at Riley Park.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, please visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
